The Namesake Chapter Summaries

Gogol grapples with his name throughout the majority of the novel, yet this tension was in the makings even before his birth. Ashoke and Ashima being immigrants set Gogol up to live in two different cultures, American and Bengali. Many children of immigrants may feel like Gogol, having one foot in each world. Gogol framed his struggle with cultural identity through something tangible, his name. In Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel, The Namesake, Gogol’s struggle with cultural identity is exposed most greatly by the name others call him and his reaction to it.

The book is simple and easy to read. The author has a good use of English language. He uses specific words, therefore making his book highly readable.

In the beginning of the novel, Gogol’s struggle with his identity begins with his name. The first issue was when he was first born. His mother, Ashima, and his father, Ashoke, had planned on waiting for a letter containing the chosen names for their child from Ashima’s grandmother in India, to arrive. But the hospital would not let them be discharged until the baby had a name. Soon enough Ashoke had come up with a name. When Lahiri writes, “But for the first time he thinks of that moment not with terror, but with gratitude” (Lahiri 28), it is evident that after the train accident Ashoke does not remember the

In his younger years Gogol was always extremely insecure about his Bengali culture. After one of Gogol’s field trips to the cemetery, he had drawn a picture of the cemetery to give to his mom, but she forced him to throw them away. She made him do this because in Bengali culture, cemeteries are supposed to be sacred and not used for art. So as a

Ashima is Gogol’s mother, who moved to America for her husband Ashoke after they were arranged for marriage. Ashima misses her family and life back in Calcutta, she has trouble setting in to the American lifestyles. “On more than one occasion [Ashoke] has come home from the university to find her morose, in bed, rereading her parents’ letters.” Ashima feels lonely and homesick. Ashima tries to keep Bengali tradition by always wearing a sari and a bindi in her forehead, and always cooking an Indian dinner. “For being a foreigner, Ashima is beginning to realize, is a sort of lifelong pregnancy — a perpetual wait, a constant burden, a continuous feeling out of sorts. It is an ongoing responsibility, a parenthesis in what had once been ordinary life, only to discover that that previous life has vanished, replaced by something more complicated and demanding.” (49) In America, Ashima is surrounded by people she does not know, and she does not quite feel that she fits in. There are new customs and a new way of doing

He is bewildered as to why his father named him Gogol as it not Bengali nor a normal American name which leads him to struggle to understand himself and his identity. In Bengali families, "individual names are sacred, inviolable. They are not meant to be inherited or shared" (28). However, Gogol grows up living in America, where children are often ashamed of their differences from others. As a teenager, Gogol desires to blend in and to live unnoticed. This presents a struggle between two cultures. Ashima and Ashoke want to raise Gogol and his younger sister with Bengali culture and values. On the other hand Gogol grew wanting to belong by relating mostly to peers and the surrounding culture in America. It is only much later in their lives that they begin to truly value their Bengali heritage and that Gogol finds the importance in his name. During high school Gogol struggles to accept his name as he sees it has no real significance not him. When Gogol heads for college he rejects his identity completely and legally changes his name to Nikhil which allows him to somewhat feel a sense of belonging as this name relates to his Bengali roots, even though he had been ashamed of those exact roots in schooling. Gogol dreads having to go visit home and return to a life where he is "Gogol". To him, Gogol is not only his name; it bears all his discomfort and struggles to fit into two different cultures as he grew up. His life at college makes it easy for Gogol to live as

His father on the other hand thinks of the near death experience he had and the connection he has with the name. The name is another struggle that Gogol has to go through in his life. When his father dies later in the book, he begins to hate the name because of the connection it has with his father’s near death experience. But he doesn’t really want to let go of it, for he thinks that he will totally leave the culture that he grew up in behind. He also thinks he will just totally forget his father if he changes his name. The struggles he has with his father are the fact that he totally can’t decide where he wants to go. He doesn’t even go to the same university as his father, which really causes a lot of problems with his father. When things get bad for Gogol, they get really worse. His wife even cheats on him with another man. This causes an even greater struggle and internal pain for Gogol. He decides that they weren’t right for each other and the two split up. This again is another strain on Gogol’s life that he must

In Bengali tradition children are given two names, a “good name”, which is an officially recognized name used by teachers and new acquaintances, and a pet name, which is used by loved ones. In the confusion surrounding Ashima’s grandmother’s letter and the hospital’s regulation, Gogol was given his legal name hastily, resulting in a single name that was both his “good name” and his pet name. As a result Gogol does not fit into Indian cultural tradition; however, he does not fit into the tradition of American names either, as he has no American peers with the same name and his name cannot be shortened into a nickname like theirs. Furthermore, though many Bengali families in America ended the tradition of having two names Gogol still does not fit into the Indian or American name tradition because the name Gogol is Russian, not Bengali or

As I stated earlier the Namesake focuses mainly on the upcoming of Gogol Ganguli. However, the story changes hands and is told from multiple peoples point of view as the book continues. The main people who narrate the story are Gogol, Mrs. Ganguli, Mr. Ganguli, and Moushumi. The book which covers a significant time gap or about thirty years starts off with Mrs. Ganguli pregnant with Gogol. Gogol was names so after the Russian author Nikolai Gogol. He is named so because his father Ashoke had been reading a book written by Gogol years prior while on a train ride that we find out ended up crashing. Ashoke had survived the train accident by dropping the page of the book he had been reading which rescue workers had found. Per traditional values their family believes

The names we are given are essential in forming our identity. It is the way we are addressed by everyone starting from birth. It is the beginning of how we define ourselves in our own terms `as a result of growing up and experiencing life. In Indian culture, from The Namesake, the grandmother chooses a good name for the child before they are born. Gogol was supposed to be a pet name only used by family and close friends. For Gogol, his name highlights his differences to everyone else, but more importantly, himself. He endures a consistent struggle with his two cultures throughout the novel. He, as a young adult, is searching for acceptance of both his traditional Indian culture and American culture. The Namesake, explores the theme of identity by examining the differences of both cultures. He has two names and therefore two identities, Gogol and Nikhil, and throughout the novel he looks for a way to incorporate them into one whole.

Gogol’s friends, school, and parents had a high influence on his behavior and actions as well as his personality and identity. Gogol was born in America to Bengali immigrants, Ashima and Ashoke Ganguli. His father, Ashoka is a professor and his mother is also an educated woman He was confused about his culture because at home his parents communicated with him in Bengali and English. And, his parents tried to create links to Indian culture at home. His mother cooked Indian food all the time and dressed in traditional Indian clothes.

This shows that throughout his journey (highschool/university) Gogol rebelled against his culture and it did nothing but brought him back to his own bed. The book Gogol`s father gives him is an anima symbol because it represents the feminine side of both Gogol and his father. Books are known to give information and to express ones feelings, this is also what females are known to do. By giving his son this book Gogol`s father is sharing his life story and how he felt about the train crash with his son. The train crash is a metaphor for life and death because the train represents how quick life really is and the crash represents the end of it. The symbol of the book developed the plot because without the book there wouldn’t be anything to symbolise Gogol`s fathers journey. After Gogol`s fathers passing Gogol becomes the subject in his house. Ashima and Sonia live under patriarchy because Gogol tells them what to do and what not to do. The story also follows the universal unconscious of men being the one to protect their families. As soon as Mr.Ganguli a hard working proletariat passes away everyone expects the son to step up and protect the family. Ashima doesn’t mind this because she is use to having a man protect her. This follows the stereotype of men leading the household and women just being objects and following. Women are represented as weak people in this story because they cannot do things

Throughout the novel “ The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri, Gogol develops an identity that he did not believe was truly possible within his three relationships. Evidently, each of his three relationships had taken him on different paths. Ruth allowed him to feel more Americanized, and provided him with the confidence to actualize his altered identity. Throughout his relationship with Maxine, he attempted to move to a more identified Americanized lifestyle. He felt the need to expand and experience a departure from his usual Bengali lifestyle, and she learned to accept him for who he desired to be. Suddenly, when his father passed away, he realized he wanted to return to his traditional cultural beliefs. This relationship led him toward his familiar

The novel The Namesake revolves around and focuses on the life of Gogal Ganguly who is the only son of Ashok and Ashima who had moved to U.S.A from India their homeland. U.S.A is the place where Gogol is born and brought up with his unique name. However, in India names play a great role. Whenever a child is born in India a lot of importance is placed on the naming of the child. In India usually there are two names, one is nick name and one is official name. Nick name is used at home or casually by friends and relatives. Mostly they does not behold any significant meaning. But, official name beholds a lot of importance. Official name is used professionally in school, universities and offices.

The main character, Gogol/Nikhil Ganguli, shows many qualities throughout the book. Near the beginning he was unsure about him more towards his identity and how he places himself in the world. Towards the middle he wanted to get away from the culture side of him and try to get his life together. Lastly near the end he understands his name is unique.